This invention relates to a mower conditioner, and more particularly to a drive arrangement for driving both the cutting mechanism and the conditioning arrangement of a mower conditioner.
A mower conditioner for cutting and conditioning agricultural crop material typically includes a tongue adapted for connection to a tractor for pulling the mower conditioner behind the tractor. The tongue supports a rotatable driveline which is interconnected with the tractor power take off for providing input power to the mower conditioner. Many mower conditioners have the tongue mounted to one side of the mower conditioner. A cutterbar drive system and a conditioner drive system are mounted to the same side of the machine as the tongue, and the driveline is interconnected with the cutting mechanism drive system and the conditioner drive system. This arrangement functions well for mower conditioners. It is also known to connect the tongue inwardly of the sides of the machine, for example at or near the center of the machine. With this arrangement, it is necessary to transfer input power from at or near the center of the machine to both the cutting mechanism and the crop conditioning mechanism.
One solution to this problem is shown in Jennings et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,539. This patent discloses a drive system for a mower conditioner having a bevel gearbox which receives input power from the driveline. A vertical drive shaft extends downwardly from the gearbox and is connected to an intermediate cutting unit, which is provided on a cutterbar having a series of cutting units including a pair of end cutting units between which the intermediate cutting unit is located. A horizontal output shaft extends from the gearbox and is interconnected with a transmission for rotating the conditioning rolls. In this patent, the shaft providing input power to the gearbox is fixed in position, and a flexible coupling is interposed between the input shaft and the driveline. With this arrangement, the range of angular movement of the tongue is limited by the flexible coupling.
Pruitt et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,859 discloses a center pivot mower conditioner which includes a central pivotable gearbox which receives rotary input power from the driveline. The gearbox provides output power to a pair of pulleys. One of the pair of pulleys is drivingly interconnected with a vertical drive shaft located at one side of the machine for providing power to the cutterbar, and the other of the pair of pulleys is drivingly interconnected with another vertical drive shaft located at an opposite end of the machine for providing power to the conditioning rolls.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mower conditioner drive system having a center drive arrangement for providing input power to the cutterbar of the mower conditioner, in combination with a drive shaft for delivering power from the center drive arrangement to a conditioning system. It is a further object of the invention to provide such a drive system which utilizes a pivoting gearbox arrangement to maximize the range of angular movement of the mower conditioner header relative to the tongue. Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a drive system which is relatively simple in its components and operation to provide advantages in manufacturing costs and serviceability, while maximizing efficiency in transferring power from the input shaft to the cutterbar and the conditioning system.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a mower conditioner includes a frame which defines opposed sides and which carries a cutterbar having a series of individual rotatable cutting units including a pair of laterally spaced end cutting units and at least a first intermediate cutting unit disposed between the end cutting units. The cutterbar includes a cutterbar power transfer arrangement interconnected with the first intermediate cutting unit and the end cutting units, as well as with any intermediate cutting units therebetween, for rotating the cutting units together. The mower conditioner further includes a conditioning arrangement for conditioning crop material cut by the cutting units, and a rotatable power input located between the opposed sides of the frame. The invention resides in an improvement in the form of a power transfer arrangement interconnected with the rotatable power input and including a first rotatable output and a second rotatable output. A generally vertical first drive arrangement is interposed between the first rotatable output and the first intermediate cutting unit, for rotating the first intermediate cutting unit and to thereby cause rotation of the end cutting units, and any intermediate cutting units between the end cutting units and the first intermediate cutting unit through the cutterbar power transfer arrangement. The power transfer arrangement further includes a generally horizontal second drive arrangement interposed between the second rotatable output and the conditioning arrangement for driving the conditioning arrangement. The power transfer arrangement is in the form of a gearbox defining a fixed position power output section and a pivotable power input section pivotably mounted to the power output section. The power input to the gearbox is preferably in the form of an input shaft connected to the pivotable power input section. The first power output may be associated with either the pivotable input section or the fixed position power output section, and the second rotatable power output is associated with the fixed position power output section. The gearbox includes a gear mechanism for imparting rotation to both the first and second power outputs in response to rotation of the input shaft. The first power output is preferably in the form of a substantially vertical output member with which the generally vertical first drive arrangement is interconnected. The second power output is preferably in the form of a substantially horizontal output member with which the generally horizontal second drive arrangement is interconnected. The second drive arrangement is in the form of a horizontal drive shaft which extends between the second power output and one side of the frame, to provide input power to a drive arrangement carried by the frame and interconnected with the conditioning arrangement for driving the conditioning arrangement. The gear mechanism includes a vertical drive shaft rotatably mounted to the pivotable power input section for rotation in response to rotation of the input shaft, and the substantially vertical output member is mounted to the power output section and interconnected with the vertical drive shaft. The gear mechanism further includes a horizontal output member mounted to the power output section, which includes a drive gear arrangement for imparting rotation to the horizontal output member in response to rotation of the vertical drive shaft.
The invention further contemplates an agricultural machine in the form of a mower conditioner substantially in accordance with the foregoing summary, as well as a power transfer arrangement for a mower conditioner, also substantially in accordance with the foregoing summary.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.